Sublime

For the mystery of man’s being is not only in living, but in what one lives for. Without a firm idea of what he lives for, man will not consent to live and will sooner destroy himself than remain on earth, even if there is bread all around him.

These were years of terrible solitude for him, but also of self-judgment and the beginnings of a spiritual regeneration. On leaving prison, he wrote to N. D. Fonvizina, the wife of a political exile who had given him a copy of the Gospels: Not because you are religious, but because I myself have experienced and felt it keenly, I will tell you that

On me croyait riche; d'ailleurs, je croyais l'être.

Bien souvent les gens, même méchants, sont plus naïfs, plus simples, que nous ne le pensons. Nous aussi, d’ailleurs.